No prosperity without climate protection

One uncomfortable fact continues to be ignored: we humans are all selfish - to a greater or lesser extent - and not particularly good at behaving altruistically and in a way that serves the common good. This applies at all levels of our society. For our politically responsible decision-makers as well as for the corporate leaders in whose factories all the GHG-intensive things we consume every day are produced, and of course for ourselves. As long as we neglect this crucial detail, all efforts to develop an effective and holistic approach that is capable of reducing emissions to a scientifically recommended level to limit global warming within an acceptable habitable range will remain futile.

 

We do not have an awareness problem, we have an implementation problem. That is why even more education and appeals are of little use. What's more, the actions of individuals have no tangible impact on the big picture. Because there is no direct feedback! This fact encourages resignation and "whataboutism", especially as the lack of climate-friendly consumption alternatives means that we are virtually incapable of taking action - even if we wanted to.

 

No prosperity without climate protection - or how we can break out of the paralysis of the status quo

A caesura in the form of a guard rail system using a contingent complementary climate currency offers the best potential for a solution that plays in the same league as the problem itself, and which places the control potential for climate protection completely in the hands of all consumers. A system in which every citizen decides for themselves how they integrate climate protection into their lives, and not whether! Away from small-scale and often unpopular regulatory measures by politicians, which are usually watered down to the point of insignificance after protests anyway, and hardly bring any benefit. Away from pointless appeals to industry and society to produce and consume in a more climate-friendly way. Towards acknowledging that the current course can never lead us to our goal - at least not to the extent or at the speed required by the crisis. We are well on the way to gambling away the future of future generations.

In recent years, it has always been said that "prosperity must not be jeopardized by climate protection", although everyone should know by now that without climate protection, there will soon be significantly less prosperity for everyone. We can now use the economic view of the world that is inherent in all of us, which is very dominant, to take the path towards real sustainability with the help of this very central adjusting screw and in a way that completely decouples climate protection from the question of guilt. After all, the pressure of limited personal CO2 budgets works much better than any bans or government or regulatory interventions, such as price increases through a CO2 tax. This is because experience shows that people's approval dwindles significantly as soon as climate policy measures affect their personal comfort zone or their own wallets. The market-based approach of a climate currency that is decoupled from the monetary system means that the most suitable methods and techniques are automatically applied that achieve the best reduction in emissions with the least effort - and without the need for state intervention. 

 

How can we create awareness within society so that people say: We are moving with

Justice is a strong basic need of every human being, and this is precisely where the model of personal tradable emissions budgets comes in. This is because every citizen is given the same amount each month in the form of a free basic ecological income, which they use to pay for the CO2 equivalents of their individual consumption. From now on, everything will have two prices - the usual economic price in euros and the additional ecological price in ECO. In this way, we consumers can assess the climate impact of our individual consumption and proactively choose the more climate-friendly option. The industry will transform its production processes much faster and make significantly more climate-friendly consumption alternatives available, because we consumers will now favor products with a lower ECO price.

 

The result: 

An incentive system for climate-friendly behaviour at an individual level and an intrinsically driven motivation for companies to defossilize in order to offer significantly more climate-friendly alternatives than before. The plan is ambitious, starts initially at EU level and combines national interests with global responsibility. It is a paradigm shift in climate policy - away from selective regulations and towards a holistic, systemic approach that removes the inherent interdependence between business and politics and takes citizens with it.

 

 

📢 The english edition is currently only available as free e-book

 

 

📢 The German edition is available in german bookstores and as free e-book.